Hundreds of billions of plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year, with less than 1% being recycled. Plastic bags end up polluting oceans and landscapes, as they are blown by winds and wash into waterways. Over 200 species of marine life are harmed by ingesting or entanglement in plastic bags that they mistake for food. Many countries and cities have implemented bans and taxes on plastic bags to reduce consumption and clean up the environment.

1. Data released by the United States Environmental Protection Agency shows that somewhere between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. National Geographic News September 2, 2003

2. Less than 1% of bags are recycled. It cost more to recycle a bag than to produce a new one. - Christian Science Monitor News Paper

3. “ There's harsh economics behind bag recycling: It costs $4,000 to process and recycle 1 ton of plastic bags, which can then be sold on the commodities market for $32” - Jared Blumenfeld (Director of San Francisco's Department of the Environment)

4. Then… Where Do They Go?

5. A study in 1975, showed oceangoing vessels together dumped 8 million pounds of plastic annually. The real reason that the world's landfills weren't overflowing with plastic was because most of it ended up in an ocean-fill - U.S. National Academy of Sciences

6. Bags get blown around…

7. … to different parts of our lands

8. … and to our seas, lakes and rivers.

9. Bags find their way into the sea via drains and sewage pipes… - CNN.com/tecnhology November 16, 2007

10. … under desks in work places… - Office Building, Cambridge, MA, 2008

11. … inside desks in work spaces… - - Office Building, Cambridge, MA, 2008

12. … inside other drawers inside desks in work spaces… - - Office Building, Cambridge, MA, 2008

13. Plastic bags have been found floating north of the Arctic Circle near Spitzbergen, and as far south as the Falkland Islands - British Antarctic Survey

14. Plastic bags account for over 10 percent of the debris washed up on the U.S. coastline - National Marine Debris Monitoring Program

15. Plastic bags photodegrade: Over time they break down into smaller, more toxic petro-polymers - CNN.com/tecnhology November 16, 2007

16. which eventually contaminate soils and waterways - CNN.com/tecnhology November 16, 2007

17. As a consequence microscopic particles can enter the food chain - CNN.com/tecnhology November 16, 2007

18. The effect on wildlife can be catastrophic - World Wildlife Fund Report 2005

19. Birds become terminally entangled - World Wildlife Fund Report 2005

21. Nearly 200 different species of sea life including whales, dolphins, seals and turtles die due to plastic bags - World Wildlife Fund Report 2005

22. They die after ingesting plastic bags which they mistake for food - World Wildlife Fund Report 2005

23. So… What do we do?

24. If we use a cloth bag, we can save 6 bags a week

25. That's 24 bags a month

26. That's 288 bags a year

27. That's 22,176 bags in an average life time

28. If just 1 out of 5 people in our country did this we would save 1,330,560,000,000 bags over our life time

29. Bangladesh has banned plastic bags - MSNBC.com March 8, 2007

30. China has banned free plastic bags - CNN.com/asia January 9, 2008

31. Ireland took the lead in Europe, taxing plastic bags in 2002 and have now reduced plastic bag consumption by 90% - BBC News August 20, 2002

32. In 2005 Rwanda banned plastic bags - Associated Press

33. Israel, Canada, western India, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Taiwan, and Singapore have also banned or are moving toward banning the plastic bag - PlanetSave.com February 16, 2008

34. On March 27th 2007, San Francisco becomes first U.S. city to ban plastic bags - NPR.org (National Public Radio)

35. Oakland and Boston are considering a ban - The Boston Globe May 20, 2007

36. Plastic shopping bags are made from polyethylene: a thermoplastic made from oil - CNN.com/tecnhology November 16, 2007

37. Reducing plastic bags will decrease foreign oil dependency

38. China will save 37 million barrels of oil each year due to their ban of free plastic bags - CNN.com/asia January 9, 2008

39. It is possible ...